Wheel alignment tools - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

whunter · #16 09-23-2004, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

So dealers are can still do a good alignment on one of these? What about balancing tires? Tirerack did the best balance job I have ever had, with most of the discount places the wheel is shaking over 80. Wal-Mart, Firestone, Townfair, ect. have never been able to balance a tire. Maybe I need to find a good speed shop.

Most tire technicians = part changers, don't have a clue about dynamic balance theory and could care less, they make minimum wage.
The employee turn over in tire shops is incredible.
I want a zero balance every time on every tire on my car and presume that every owner does.
I will not balance damaged tires and have in past years been fired for it, when the wear bars show, belts show, bubbles show, shifted belts or rim damage show, it is a total waste of my time and the owners money to balance.
I learned to balance four ply tires on bubble and gravity balancers in the 1960's, and the kids today can't manage to learn radial tire balance on the dummy proof machines of today.

The work ethic and company direction has been destroyed by what they call HUMAN RESOURCES = treating you like a nut or bolt = you are worthless = you are infinitely replaceable = lowest possible pay = no motivation = bad service.

You don't believe me; go get a job doing tires at SEARS or any other major tire store.

Hatterasguy · #17 09-23-2004, 12:19 PM

Thanks Whunter, I have found a good indy that always seems to be busy. They say they will balance tires for $10 each, I'll give them a try when I get my winter tires, they can't do any worse then the discount places.

autozen · #18 09-23-2004, 06:55 PM

Dan is right. Alignment is not rocket science. His local shop did it for $35.00. I would never screw around and waste my time aligning a newer car with a ball of string. There has to be plenty of alignment shops out there with good techs. Also you can't properly align a car with multi link rear suspension this way. I aligned cars many years ago on the Hunter alignment system. I understand alignment, but I prefer to let a good alignment man do my cars on a good system. The ball of string alignment was good before the Eisenhower administration built the Interstate Highway System designed after the Autobahn of Germany, but today's cars need more sophisticated alignment.

Peter

FineOlBenz · #19 09-23-2004, 10:30 PM

Yes I've made mistakes. Here is one I may have done. I recently changed out a motor on my 240. Yes I used a floor jack many times all around the car when needed. The WRONG PLACE is the front cross member on a 123 car unless your very careful. I believe the jack lifted on the steering center link and bent it. The car drives as if she has a major "toe out" condition.

But thank's to some square tubing, bunge cords and a tape measure or two I'll fix it myself.

Thanks for the tool tip. That's sharp thinking, even if it's not HiTech

Still working in my drive way and away from steelerships

nglitz · #20 09-24-2004, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwthomas1

Anybody ever try out this http://www.hitmanalignment.com/ ??? RT

A friend of mine used to race a Datsun 2000 roadster. He swapped several national records with Group 44, if that name means anything. He had made a very similar setup using a couple of military surplus colimators. The principle is exactly the same as the Hitman setup. It worked quite well, we were able to do significant suspension development on that car. We made modifications to the camber curve and were able to tune most of the bump steer out of the original suspension. When he finally gave up the Datsun effort, he went to a Super Vee that looks sort of like the drawing in Hitman's "race car applications" page. Later, sprint cars, still being aligned with the same system.

The real key to making that work is in the adapters to your wheels. Any imperfection there would translate directly to toe-in error. Also, the farther away the targets are, the finer adjustment can be seen.

Straight on,